St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-03-12

witness to OvertOn's attorney and then
looked over towards Gravius. Several.times
smile was seen lowering about her
mouth. MI. Overton seemed restless and
frequently changed his position and tOyed
continually with his watch chain. During
the first hour of the morning session
he turned his back to the court and sat di-
rectly facing Mrs. Overton. Gravius dur
ing the greater part of the time looked di-
rectly in front of him, though he OCCASION
ally cast a glance at Mrs. Overton. He was
f1anked on either side by friends to whom
he addressed an occasional comment on the
testimony being offered. The testimony of
Annie KnudSon, who worked for the Over
tons in the capacity of hired girl, occu-
pied the entire morning and brought out
number of new facts. Her testimony was
as follows:
ANNIE KNUDSON.
/ went to work at Mr.. Overton's in April,
1855, and left them last February. In Janu-
ary or February Mrs. Overton told me / must
leave Maj. Overton's employ. She asked me
at another time when / was going. She said
that she didn't want Mr.. Overton to know
whereI was, that would be called as wit
ness. She told me that if was called
should tell them l didn't know anything about
it. L was in the house the night Mr.. G1avius
was caught there. Mrs. Overton asked me
next morning if j had ever told Mr..
was boarding at Mr. Overton's when 1 first
went there to work. Mrs. Overton and
Gravius were good friends. l heard Gravius
and Mrs. OvertOn talking upstairs in the bed
room after Mr.. OvertOn had gone down town.
l saw GraviuS and Mrs. Overton come up
Grand avenue one Sunday morning from the
direction of the barn where Gravius kept his
horse. Gravius used to bring Mrs. Overton
home from the doctors frequently. They
used to come home about o'clock in the aft
ernOon. One afternoon | thought / heard
somebody in Gravius' room, and when / went
up to see about it found the bed disarranged
/ used to see Gravius and Mrs. Overton Sit
ting in a hammock with an umbrella over
them, so that nothing but their feet could be
Seen. This was generally at from 10 to J0:30
o'clock at night, after Mr. Overton had gone
to bed. 1 have seen Gravius wink at Mrs.
OvertOn lots of times, and once saw him
put his arm around her waist. When Mrs.
Oyerton went East she asked me to stay and
take care of the children. 1 stayed until she
came back. During the summer of 1856
lived with Mrs. Overton She was
kind to me and made me presents.
The first Sunday after Mrs. OvertoD returned
home, she told me that she had seen Gravius
during the week. She also told me that she
didn't care for her husband, and wished he
would get divorce from her. During Octo-
ber, 1885, there were several nights when Mr..
OvertOn did not come home / thought on
these nights that some one was with Mrs.
Overton, but / wasn't sure. One night l said
something to her, and she held up her finger
and said 'sh! as though there was some one
in the adjoining room. The next morning
Mrs. OvertOn didn't get up until 10 o'clock.
l was there the night GraviuS was caught
there. l went to bed that night at 10 o'clock.
I thought from Mrs. Overton'S actions
that some one was in the house. I never
haQ Qr6 Mr. nrda nhi
not to speak Of their mother. / have been
anxious, on account of my own feelings, to
avoid being called here as a witness. / asked
Mrs. Oyerton not to call me as a witness, and
that l would go away SO they couldn't find
me. Mrs. Overton told me not to let them
find me. They never made any attempt to
conceal the fact that they were lying in the
hammock together from me and the children.
The day they had the umbrella over them in
the hammock the sun was shining. Mrs.
Overton was in poor health the first year 1
was there, but later she got better. Mr..
Gravius was treated and regarded as one of
the family. Mr.. Overton was always down
town on Sunday. Mr.. Gravus generally
spent that day at the house. Mr.. Overton
always addressed Gravius as Mr.. Gravius,
and never
CALLED HIM CHARLIE.
The children were never around when
Gravius winked at Mrs. Overton. 1 don't
know what it was signal for. 1t was
smiling wink, such as one might make after
a funny remark had been made. When
saw Gravius with his arm around Mrs.
Overton he had it lying loosely around the
folds of her dress, and was not hugging her
close to his pc rson. During the three weeks
preceding the time that Mrs. Overton left.
her husband did not lock her in any part of
the house. We didn't know whether she
would come back or not. The presents that
Mrs. OvertOn gave when she returnedwere not
n Enn mo- ht1f fOr foly inu oor Of
children while she was away. The day that
she returned home Mr.. Overton told her that
she shouldn't speak with or have anything to
do with Gravius. She wanted Gravius to
know this and offered to take him a note,
but it was not sent Mrs. Overtons regard
for Gravius was open and she made no at
tempt to conceal it. The conduct of Gravius
and Mrs. Overton was such when first went
to work there as to lead me to the suspicion
that they were having improper relations
with each other, and from my subsequent OBJ
servations. should say that my suspicious
were correct.
IN THE AFTERNOON.
A larger number of spectators were pres
ent during the afternoon, and two ladies
besides Mrs. Overton were to be seen among
the dozen or more persons sitting within
the inclosure set aside for members OF the
bar. They appeared to be friends of Mrs.
Overton. The examination of Annie |
Knudson was completed. and Charles Kat
tenberg, keeper of hotel at Taylor's Falls.
was called by the prosecution. He testi-
fled that in July, 1885, Miss NJ. }. Gravius
came to his hotel from st. Paul, and that
few days afterward Mrs. Overton arrived at |
the hotel. On the following Sunday Gra-
vius joined his sister and Mrs. Overton. and
spent Sunday with them. Frank NJ. Gembe,
proprietor OF saloon at the corner of
Broadway and Spruce streets, testified that
he knew MIR. Gravius. Had seen Mrs.
Overton enter Mr.. Gravius' store on one or
two occasions, and continuing the witness
said:
~ can't tell whether Mrs. Overton was ever
in the wine room of my saloon with MIR.
Gravius or any one else. / think l had con-
versation with Officer Hempf in regard to this
matter. When l was subpoenaed to-day I
said had talked little too freely about
the matter and didn't want to
come up here. L cannot swear that Mrs.
Overton was not in my saloon. l have seen
Gravius in my saoon''
Counsel for Overton-Did you ever see
Gravius in your saloon with any woman?
Witness-I don't know anything about it.
Officer Hempf testified that he saw Mrs.
OvertOn and Gravius come out of Gravius'
store together the evening before Gravius
was caught with Mrs. Oyerton. 1t was